‘Sudan had to repel South’

KHARTOUM - Sudan told UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday that it had no choice but to fight back against “aggression” from South Sudan. Foreign Minister Ali Karti made the remarks when Ban telephoned him, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Ban asked Sudan to show restraint, the ministry said, but Karti replied that Sudan could not wait and had acted militarily “to push out the aggressor from its land.” The South Sudanese army claimed to still be in control of the Heglig oil centre, along the disputed border, after Khartoum said it had launched an offensive to recapture the area which Southern troops took control of Tuesday.